In recent years, many correctional facilities have extended liberal telephone privileges to inmates to promote community and family ties that contribute positively to inmates' personal development. In the interest of promoting wholesome family ties, hundreds of thousands of telephone calls are permitted to be made each day by inmates of correctional facilities. Unfortunately, serious abuse of the telephone system has been noted relating, in an exemplary instance, to improper inmate-employee fraternization.
Due to the liberalization of phone privileges (as well as the advent and popularity of computer correspondence) improper fraternization between inmates and employees has become problematic. Such improper fraternization can occur in several ways. For example, improper inmate-employee fraternization can be sexual in nature which can lead to favoritism and discrimination within in a correctional facility and within a Department of Corrections (DOC). However, inmate-employee fraternization more likely occurs for purposes of economic gain (e.g., smuggling illegal materials into and out of the correctional facility). The “black market” for drugs and other creature “comforts,” not normally available to inmates, can create a large windfall for the employee and the inmate alike. Improper fraternization can occur within a single correctional facility and also between parties located in different correctional facilities within the same system.
Correctional facilities maintain control systems for processing inmate calls. Each time an inmate places a call from a correctional facility, a call detail record (CDR) of the call is created. The call detail records of inmate calls typically include the name of the inmate (and/or inmate identification number), the inmate's location, the number called and the date, time and duration of the call. Inmate call control systems may also include certain call monitoring facilities that enable correctional facility personnel to monitor and record inmate calls.